CP 05634/en
Marcel Proust to Gaston Gallimard [between 12 and 14 October 1917]
(Click on the link above to see this letter and its notes in the Corr-Proust digital edition, including all relevant hyperlinks.)
Dear friend
Here is the end of my manuscript, plus the corrected proofs from 1 to 183. It is composed, as you can see, of a large notebook, and a thin notebook. As the thin notebook has been torn out of a larger one and with difficulty sewn back together, I believe it to be a bit fragile. As for the material state (I am only talking about that in this letter) of the pages of these notebooks, I believe those of the thin one to be much less sick than those of the thick one, which will undoubtedly need the exceptional care of the chartist of your typist[2]. The corrected proofs are brought to you with the manuscript[3]. Your printer reads my handwriting in a confusing way. On the other hand, when he has to do with Grasset's print, he changes and skips words, sentences. The characters will not be as fine as on the proofs, won’t they, because that would be illegible. I am at your orders for Grasset[4]. Nevertheless, given that I am at the moment in a rather ill-defined position with him, as you know, and that he is only looking for a pretext to modify things, I think it would be better not to give him cause to do so by making me write to him, and it seems to me that on this inessential issue, which is self-evident, it would be quite natural for you to write to him: "Now that I have become the publisher of Mr. Proust, I wish to buy you out, with his agreement, etc."[5]. Besides, he holds the N.R.F. in high regard. I have not yet received a reply from Montesquiou. Perhaps your friend went to his house with my letter. If he was well received, tell me so that I can thank Montesquiou. I found that your new (shaven) face suits you admirably. I like you in all aspects but this one seemed very pleasant to me. Dear friend, out of discretion, out of lack of strength, out of fear of abusing yours, I have not spoken to you in this letter about the thing I am thinking about the most, your trip (which I learned of quite recently and by chance[6]) and the effect it may have on your health.
As for Grasset, the more I think about it, the more advantageous my idea (which I am ready to give up) seems to me. As soon as you leave, I will be exposed to his requests, and of course I will not give in to them. But by writing to him, you as an editor, and an editor respected by him, you are cutting the ties. I think that would be better.
Yours affectionately, dear friend,
Marcel Proust
Last minute: I hear that Madame Lemarié (at least I suppose it was her) came while Céleste, who never goes out, had gone to her sister-in-law's house on rue Laffitte. I cannot tell you how sad I would be if it were Madame Lemarié[7]. I am not delaying the dispatch of the proofs that you have made me say are "very urgent"[8] by extending this message.
There are in these proofs, there will be in the others, certain pages (for the four volumes perhaps four or five pages) of which I cannot know before having corrected everything if they will not emigrate to another part. On the one hand, in such a long work, a passage may have been placed twice and as my book is not an Iliad, these repetitions would be inexcusable. On the other hand, there is a question of balance that I will only see once I have seen the whole. But I believe that these transfers, even if they occur, will not entail the interchange of more than five or six pages[9].
I told you that in my corrected proofs there was only one bis, there are two or three, and even a ter, the 152ter whose small tear doesn't mean anything.